A photo posted by Joanne (@possiblyjoanne) on Dec 10, 2015 at 7:35am PST

It’s the holidays and I’m two days shy of getting home, finally! I can’t wait to be spoiled and pampered by my family for a few days. To me, it’s like heaven just to think about it! But, in the meantime, I have to spoil myself with one of my favorite dishes from my childhood: rigatoni bolognese.

My mom used to make this a lot when I was young and feeling down; something about the protein and iron in the bolognese sauce would lift me up, she would say. Something I love about this bolognese is that it’s also really easy to make. You can also store the bolognese in the freezer, this way you can have it in the freezer you just have to heat it up and boil pasta. Pretty handy, huh

This recipe yields two and this is what you’ll need.

100 gr of minced beef meat

1 carrot

3 cloves of garlic

1 bay leaf

half a medium onion

one handful of parsley

500 gr to crushed tomato

olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

one pinch or sugar

180 gr of rigatoni (90 grams per person)

Method:

For the rigatoni: Boil some water for the pasta for about 15 minutes. Once you’re ready to add the rigatoni add some salt and boil it away.

For the bolognese: Cut up the onion into small pieces, the carrot into halves. Sautee the onion and carrot in olive oil with the bay leaf.

Add the minced beef meat, sautee it with the onion, carrot and bay leaf until it’s slightly brown. Then add the crushed tomato and let it simmer for about 15 to 20 minutes, at medium-low heat. Taste, taste, taste. Add a pinch of salt and pepper. If it’s too acidic add a pinch of sugar to balance it out. Taste again and adjust the balance of the salt to your own liking.

Top with parsley and parmesan cheese and there you have it! Rigatoni bolognese!